Starwood Hotels app targets Google Glass

Published 9:22 pm, Thursday, June 5, 2014

Starwood Hotels & Resorts is introducing a new Starwood Preferred Guest app specifically designed for Google Glass. The Stamford-based Starwood called this a first from a hospitality company.

The new SPG app for Google Glass gives mobile travelers a chance to use the wearable technology to research destinations and book stays at the company's 1,200 hotels worldwide.

"Travelers are more tech-savvy than ever before, and wearable technology is the newest platform that provides information in an easy to access way to support the needs of our guests and enhance their travel experience," Chris Holdren, senior vice president of SPG and digital for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement. "Our goal is to explore these new technologies and learn from our guests' interactions with them so we can continue to deliver the best experiences at every point in their journey -- from when our guests are dreaming about their next destination to when they walk in our front door and beyond."

Starwood's app makes use of Google Glass features like voice command search and geolocation, to find a hotel, destination and nearby establishments. Members can share photos of the hotels, get turn-by-turn directions of the area and access their account details through the app.

The SPG app is being released as a beta project, meaning that its users can contribute feedback to Starwood's design and developments teams.

"Being the first in the hospitality industry to introduce an app for Google Glass illustrates our larger strategy to be the industry-leading digital innovator," Clay Cowan, vice president of global digital for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement. "Starwood's agility and scope has established our brands as early tech adopters, and we plan to maintain our lead with our innovative work in the digital space."